Tourist Attraction in Camogli:Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta

The Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta is a place of Catholic worship in Camogli. The church is the seat of the homonymous parish of the Vicariate of Recco-Uscio-Camogli of the Archdiocese of Genoa. The parish church was built, according to local historical sources, in the twelfth century on a rock-island in the immediate vicinity of the marina of the fishing village. Over the years the structure has undergone various interventions and extensions, especially in the sixteenth century and in the first decades of the nineteenth century, modifying in part the original religious structure. In 1970, in the three niches of the façade facing the main square, the statues of the saints Prospero, Fortunato and the Madonna del Boschetto were placed. The building was consecrated in 1826 by the Archbishop of Genoa Monsignor Luigi Lambruschini and again in 1847 by Monsignor Placido Maria Tadini. In November 1988 Pope John Paul II elevated it to the dignity of a minor basilica. The interior of the religious structure consists of three naves - in Baroque architectural style - and is entirely covered with fine stuccos in gold, polychrome marbles as well as the baptistery and crystal chandeliers. In the vault some frescoes of the late nineteenth century are preserved by the painters Nicolò Barabino and Francesco Semino. The high altar was made by the sculptor Andrea Casareggio, while the wooden choir dates back to the eighteenth century. In the sacristy there is a Deposition by the painter Luca Cambiaso. The chapels of the right aisle are dedicated to the Madonna del Rosario; to the souls in Purgatory with the painting by Gerolamo Schiaffino depicting the Madonna with Child and Souls Purgative; in San Prospero conserving the precious 16th century reliquary in the marble altar of 1788; to the Sacred Heart of Jesus where there is a statue of the nineteenth century by Ferdinando Palla, in San Gaetano with the wooden sculpture of the Virgin and Child. The chapels of the left aisle are dedicated to the Crucifix with precious 17th century frescoes and a late sixteenth century altarpiece by Bernardo Castello depicting the Crucifix with Saints Prospero and Caterina d'Alessandria; to St. John the Baptist with marble altar and preserving a seventeenth century altarpiece by Domenico Fiasella depicting the Virgin with Child, St. Catherine and St. John the Baptist; in San Pietro and San Fortunato with the relics of the saint, the altarpiece by Bernardo Castello depicting the scene of the famous Pesca miracolosa, statues of Saints Peter and Paul by Francesco Schiaffino; in San Giuseppe with a work by Giuseppe Palmieri; to Sant'Erasmo and to Our Lady of the Boschetto guarding the painting with Saint Erasmus, Saint Clare and Saint Nicholas, a seventeenth-century work by Giuseppe Badaracco; to St. Anthony of Padua with a statue of the twentieth century by Guido Galletti. Word processing: Giovambattista Spagnuolo (Myooni)